builder of narrative, drawer of real and imagined objects, investigator of self

Catalog of Plastic

This is a catalog of all the plastic I’ve been recycling or throwing out.

February 24th, 2017

Little sock connector things

Container Swiffer wet pads come in

Bought a frozen Starbucks breakfast sandwich, the wrapper from that

Tube produce bag for apples

After using the above produce bag, I bought reusable polyester

February 25th, 2017

Today I didn’t use much plastic

February 28th, 2017

Packaging from four-pack of bratwurst

March 1st, 2017

Packaging from loaf of bread

March 2nd, 2017

Yogurt container (large)

Yogurt container (small)

March 3rd, 2017 (cleaning room)

Trader Joe’s granola bar wrapper

five accumulated water bottles from my bedroom

Nature Valley granola bar wrapper (2)

Mouthwash bottle

Ibuprofen bottle

Antacid bottle

More sock packaging ties

Twist tie

March 14th, 2017

At this point I’m starting to notice how easily I’ve been defeated by this task. (Note the massive gap between the last listing and this one!) I don’t know if it’s because I’m forgetful about cataloging this plastic or if it’s that I use so much plastic I’ve become numb to its documentation. I’m sure there is a little bit of both here.

Is this a fools errand? I’m going to try to do better, both with my usage and with the documentation.

From memory March 4th-13th:

2 mid-sized Essentia water bottles

2 wrappers from 2 french bread pizzas

pull tab seal from almond milk carton

small sandwich plate from lecture

plastic silverware from takeout place

lid from to-go coffee (4?)

all of this above stuff times 2 because there is much I’m likely forgetting

March 23rd, 2017

So, I’ve found out that I’m going to be moving soon, which means the cleaning of my bedroom is in full swing [Insert excuses about the last week]

This means that I am making room in old cardboard boxes, so that I can downsize and be economical with how much stuff (read: weight) I really have to shift from the old space to the new

The below is a list of mostly newer plastic items along with a few odds and ends that could have accumulated between the years 2014 and 2018

1 QT Essentia bottle

ShopRite Extra Strength Antacid bottle (held 96 chewable tablets

16 OZ Extra Crunchy Jif Peanut Butter

1 L CVS Antiseptic Mouthwash

16 fl. oz Liquiteria Cold Pressed Juice (All Greens)

100 “capsule-shaped tablets” 200 mg ibuprofen bottle

3 misc sock packagings

a small palmful of sock ties

one twist tie

Obviously weights and container sizes are not reflective of the plastic itself, but, rather, the weight of the contents included with the packaging. This shift to noting the dimensions of each object is a path to eventually weighing the plastic itself, so that I can uncover daily, monthly, and yearly totals.

Also, the nature of size, weight, and density of certain objects is fascinating and I’m looking for patterns in those things.